Early Admissions Challenges

[Kota1000]

I wasn't sure what to title this, but I am curious, I accepted a seat at UMN for class of 2026, which I am really excited for. However, I am a little nervous, and here is why, I applied earlier than most. I will be starting veterinary school as a 20 yr old, and I only completed 2 years at an undergraduate college (I graduated high school with a lot of AP/college credits). Did anyone have a similar experience? If so were there any challenges you faced or any recommendations? I am not sure what to expect... I am confident I will be able to keep up academically, as I have taken 18 credit semesters while working full time and working multiple jobs, plus research and extracirculars.

Just a note, I understand it probably seems weird that I applied so early, but veterinary medicine has always been my dream and nothing was going to change my mind, so since I met the requirements I figured why not try.

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[JaynaAli]

A lot of people only do three years of undergrad (I was one of them) so I don’t think you’ll have any problems or be a huge outlier. You may get comments of “you’re how old?” when they find out you’re not 21 but the age gaps in vet school classes is wide and most people are traditional students. I honestly couldn’t have told you exact age on many of my classmates. I know the class below me had two students that were 19 or 20 at matriculation and they fit in just fine.

@cdo96 was on the younger side if I remember correctly? Maybe not 20 but 21 maybe? Tagging her so she sees it bc she’s a busy intern.

 

[Trilt]

I had two classmates who weren't twenty one when they started... the only thing that was different about them is that we got to take them out to drink partway through the year!

Seriously, no big deal. You'll have people of all ages in your class.

 

[MOOSEygoosey]

One of my classmates was 18, he skipped high school all together and went to a special college for smarty pants like himself He was a bit self conscious about it at first (especially with people going out together and him not being of legal drinking age) but he trusted a small group of us to tell us and we supported him but honestly nobody cared. We were all very impressed and sometimes his age would show in maturity level but nobody thought less of him for it, it was just clear that he needed a few more years to catch up maturity wise lol. I was 21 when I started vet school as well (october birthdays man) and everything has been fine over here (maturity level climbed a lot with vet school for me lol)

 

[TheGirlWithTheFernTattoo]

I was 20 when I started vet school, after doing 3 years of undergrad. 8 of my classmates were 19 when we started, and a ton more of us were 20/21. I didn't notice any differences, and certainly didn't feel out of place. No one cares about age, truly. They just care about how you are as an individual person to be around.

 

[cdo96]

A lot of people only do three years of undergrad (I was one of them) so I don’t think you’ll have any problems or be a huge outlier. You may get comments of “you’re how old?” when they find out you’re not 21 but the age gaps in vet school classes is wide and most people are traditional students. I honestly couldn’t have told you exact age on many of my classmates. I know the class below me had two students that were 19 or 20 at matriculation and they fit in just fine.

@cdo96 was on the younger side if I remember correctly? Maybe not 20 but 21 maybe? Tagging her so she sees it bc she’s a busy intern.

I had JUST turned 21 when I started vet school. I did 3 years of undergrad and then 4 years of vet school. I definitely wasn’t the youngest in my class.

I don’t regret my decision to do early admission, however, I regret that I wasn’t able to have that normal senior year experience with alcohol. I know it’s dumb to explain, but I never had the opportunity to be dumb legally. Don’t get me wrong, I did dumb things during vet school, but there’s a higher standard when you get into vet school. So I never have those stories of growing/ maturing/ discovering themselves through senior year like some of my classmates did.

All of that being said, I’m on tract to be a specialist (criticalist) before I turn 30, and that feels real good.

 

[britzen]

The current national president of savma has the same background as you and she's obviously doing just fine for herself

 

[battie]

My class's class president was 20 when we started. I would have argued that he was more mature than some of our oldest (35+) classmates. I think there are between 5 and 10 people who are admitted per Illinois class after only 2 or 3 years of undergrad. You very well may not be the youngest person in your class.

 

[alleycat03]

I started veterinary school after 3 years like many of the other posters. I agree with cdo about feeling like I missed out a bit on the "partying/freedom" aspect of undergrad since I didn't turn 21 until after I graduated. You still get a chance to go out to bars and restaurants and have fun in veterinary school, but definitely way less often. I'm also not the youngest in my class, but there's only a handful of people younger than me.

As long as you don't make a huge deal about your younger age or try to brag about it and claim you're smarter than your classmates solely because you're younger (like some people in my class did), it really will not be impactful at all. Some people are surprised when I mention that I'm 21, but I have the same level of maturity as the rest of my classmates and my age doesn't make me stand out. If you're ready academically (and your acceptance letter means that UMN thinks you are), then you'll do just fine. Plus, it'll be really nice to have that DVM at 24 so you can start making a Dr. salary sooner.

 

[that redhead]

Our two youngest were 19 and 20 and they were noticeably less mature, but mostly just in first year. No one really cared though

 

[FrostySparrow]

I wasn't sure what to title this, but I am curious, I accepted a seat at UMN for class of 2026, which I am really excited for. However, I am a little nervous, and here is why, I applied earlier than most. I will be starting veterinary school as a 20 yr old, and I only completed 2 years at an undergraduate college (I graduated high school with a lot of AP/college credits). Did anyone have a similar experience? If so were there any challenges you faced or any recommendations? I am not sure what to expect... I am confident I will be able to keep up academically, as I have taken 18 credit semesters while working full time and working multiple jobs, plus research and extracirculars.

Just a note, I understand it probably seems weird that I applied so early, but veterinary medicine has always been my dream and nothing was going to change my mind, so since I met the requirements I figured why not try.

I was 20yo when I started vet school. I've definitely matured and grown while in vet school and I didn't get to grow/mature as much through life experiences prior to like some of my classmates... but it didn't heavily impact my education or experiences. I struggled a bit with classes at first, but I think that was much less age related and moreso I didn't need to study in undergrad... so I didn't learn great studying techniques, and a close family member received a cancer diagnosis that threw me for a loop. But my friend group was a huge help in teaching different studying techniques and support.

I don't regret my early admission and I don't feel like I missed out on any partying, we had plenty of parties during vet school. I turned 21 during a section of finals in first year, so I waited to celebrate and some older classmates took me out! It was a great time and I'm still super close friends with them. My only regret is not getting a bachelors degree to fall back on in case something happens, but

 

[Kota1000]

Thank you everyone for your insight! I really appreciate it.